Alisson Becker had been unexpectedly beaten after just nine minutes. His team were behind at home against a team from mid-table, which was not good for their title chances as they attempted to chase down the league leaders.
Fortunately help was at hand seven minutes later. Mohamed Salah cut the ball back to a central midfielder who drilled the ball into the net from about 25 yards out. The Egyptian then scored himself on the stroke of half-time and a third goal after the interval secured the points.
If you’re wracking your brain to try to recall this Liverpool match, don’t waste your time. However, as the midfielder who scored was Leandro Paredes for Roma against Sassuolo in 2017, it’s not unfeasible that a similar outcome could occur for the Reds in future.
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Calciomercato have reported that Liverpool (along with Juventus and former club Roma) could be looking to sign the Argentine from Paris Saint-Germain this summer. They note that Jurgen Klopp recently hinted he would like reinforcements for midfield. As those comments were made prior to the Reds’ 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, the need may have intensified as we approach the final week of the transfer window.
Not that this guarantees Liverpool are going to sign anyone, of course, nor that it will be Paredes either. He was first linked with the Reds over five years ago, with the ECHO reporting at that time that he was not a target “in this window or beyond.”
A lot can change in a half decade though. It’s interesting to see on FBRef that one of the players with whom Paredes is most statistically similar is Marcelo Brozovic, another player who has cropped up in Liverpool transfer news recently. If there is any truth to either rumour, it hints that there is perhaps a type of player whom the Reds might target.
Paredes’ ability to strike from long range would certainly be welcome, as goals from outside the box is one way in which Klopp’s side trailed Manchester City last season. He has scored 11 league goals from further than 18 yards since the beginning of 2014/15 when (for instance) Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson have 10 between them in that period.
Liverpool’s Spanish international midfielder makes for an interesting comparison point. He signed off at Bayern Munich by winning the 2020 Champions League final, with fans purring over the passing display he put on that night. Paredes was on the opposing side and played arguably the pass of the match to Kylian Mbappe, among other eye-catching efforts.
More recently, Paredes floated a beautiful pass over the Clermont Foot backline which enabled his countryman Lionel Messi to complete the scoring in PSG’s first game of this season. Efforts such as these illustrate why he is in the top one per cent of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for progressive passing distance, as he is very capable of picking out teammates from deeper locations.
Such is PSG’s dominance of Ligue 1 that Paredes is in the top percentile for 26 other stats on his FBRef page too. Liverpool’s transfer analysts will have methods to account for this, though, and it’s good to see a player have such high numbers even if they are more expected thanks to the relative strength of his team.
The Paredes picture is not entirely positive though. The supposed Liverpool target endured four separate injury absences last season, missing a total of 20 matches. Add in the seven games he was suspended for in the last two years (across club and international football) and it’s natural to wonder if the Reds would be better served by targeting someone who would be available more frequently.
Signing a 28-year-old would not address the lack of a ‘peak age’ player in the Liverpool midfield in the long term either. But as he has not been featuring regularly for his current club and is into the final two years of his contract, Paredes may be a realistic target. With the clock ticking that could count for something, even if a panic buy is not the Reds’ modus operandi.
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